Taumoe’anga applied to attend Jefferson. Kofe had plenty of familial ties to the Democrats program, and actually wanted to attend Lincoln, where his four sisters went to school. The Tongan boys were big, powerful and football difference makers in middle school football. Jefferson, given its recent football track record, made a lot of sense.

There was no reason to play at Roosevelt, arguably Oregon’s worst football program at the time. Following the 2009 season, the Roughriders were riding an 18-game losing streak, outscored 857-138 over a two-year period.

Christian Swain, Roosevelt’s first-year football coach, had other ideas. Swain didn’t flat out recruit Taumoe’anga and Kofe to Roosevelt, but he began to build a relationship. Taumoe’anga and Kofe, friends since fifth grade, sat down to talk. There was no great resolve to turn around Roosevelt football. These were eighth-grade boys, after all.

Roosevelt is 20-19 since their freshmen year. This season, these senior defensive linemen are hoping to lead the Roughriders to their first Portland Interscholastic League title since 1995. Roosevelt (6-1) is 5-0 in the PIL this season.

Taumoe’anga, who is 6-foot-2, 295 pounds, and Kofe, 6-2, 285, are among Oregon’s top college football recruits for the class of 2014. Swain says every Pac-12 school has had a coach visit Roosevelt to take a look. Taumoe’anga has offers from Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Air Force, Army, Portland State and Idaho, while Kofe has offers from Army, Idaho, Portland State and Air Force. Swain believes other schools will offer a scholarship, as the boys say they won’t make any decisions until after the season. Taumoe’anga and Kofe both say they will delay entrance into college to take a two-year Mormon mission.

“To me, God doesn’t ask a lot. He’s blessed us with all this talent. All he asks is for two years. That’s not a lot,” Kofe said.

Kofe and Taumoe’anga say they are best friends, but met in an unusual way: in a parking lot, throwing haymakers.

“I punched him in the face, and he got mad,” Taumoe’anga said. “He picked me up like a wrestler and slammed me on the grass.”

Taumoe’anga and Kofe say they have no idea what caused the brawl. But two days later, they met and laughed about it, and have been friends ever since.

Both love to play rugby, the favored sport in Tonga. Kofe has proven himself in wrestling. But Taumoe’anga and Kofe are committed to football, as it could pay the college bills and lead to a future.

Taumoe’anga has been a rock for Roosevelt. A four-year starter, Taumoe’anga moved to defensive line as a sophomore, where he’s been creating havoc for offensive linemen. As a junior, Taumoe’anga had 108 tackles and 13 ½ sacks. He was often double and triple-teamed in 2012, as Kofe missed most of the season with an injury.

Now that they’re together again as seniors, Swain has turned Taumoe’anga and Kofe into defensive ends on Roosevelt’s 3-4 defense. As ends, opposing offenses have a hard time running away from Taumoe’anga and Kofe.

“We haven’t had anyone run the ball effectively against us,” Swain said. “Those two are as good as defensive linemen as there are in the Northwest. They would start anywhere around here, Jesuit, I don’t care, anywhere.”

Depth is an issue at Roosevelt, but Swain says he has largely resisted the temptation to play Kofe and Taumoe’anga as two-way starters. They will occasionally play guard on the offensive line late in the game during an important drive, but it’s the exception.

Roosevelt won its first five PIL games by double-digit margins, and could nail down its first league title in 18 years this week with a win over Jefferson.

As for postseason, any success would be historical at Roosevelt. The Roughriders are 1-9 all-time in state playoff competition, the lone win coming in 1995.

Taumoe’anga and Kofe came to Roosevelt to give the football program a try. They might leave the school with something more than an ordinary Roughrider experience.

“Winning a league title would be nice, but once we get past that, I say we’re going to make it to the (state) championship, or make a deep run in the playoffs,” Kofe said.